Special Features

Estimating facilities costs is recognized as critical in the evaluation of project economics and determination of project feasibility. What separates those companies that succeed in cost estimations with good results?

As the number of flexible pipe installations increases worldwide and the existing fleet of risers ages, inspection and monitoring techniques are emerging to better assess remaining life. A recent joint industry project offers guidance based on its global findings.

Recycling of produced and flowback water for reuse in hydraulic fracturing is increasing in the development of unconventional resources. Costs for the purchase and truck transport of fresh water and environmental considerations have led to innovative facilities, processes, and mobile treatment options in recycling water.

Peer Reviewed papers

Jim Collins
ConocoPhillips

Peer Review Editor

This section of Oil and Gas Facilities contains several peer-reviewed
papers. The term “peer-reviewed” is not always fully understood. The
primary principle behind the SPE peer-review process is to provide a
fair and timely technical review of the paper at hand, and to identify the most
meaningful technical papers that contribute to the development of petroleum
technology. A paper may be submitted for publication in one of SPE’s peerreviewed
periodicals. It will be critiqued by two or more industry or scientific
experts (the peers), who will consider questions such as:

Is the problem well-defined, and is it a real problem?

Is the problem solved in a sound way?

Do the conclusions make sense?

In the description of a field case, are there enough data to understand
the issues and from which to learn? Sometimes, in a technical or scientific
demonstration, the author has to make choices. The author should clearly explain
those choices, and the reviewer should evaluate them objectively. The reviewers
often specify improvements (minor or major) to be made to the paper, and
sometimes more than one round of review and revision is necessary before the
paper is accepted for publication.

So the answer to the question “why peer review?” is clear: The process
guarantees the quality of the papers published. In the scientific domain, peer
review has proven to be an efficient and successful tool for the progress of science.
I believe that the same is true in the field of engineering. And papers that are
peer-approved, like those published in SPE journals, offer a guarantee of quality
compared with papers in commercial publications, which are published without
such rigorous evaluation.

Peer review is also very important for the academic world. For a career in
academia, it is necessary to regularly have papers published in a peer-reviewed
journal. It is only right for SPE to offer a “home” for the petroleum engineers to
share their contributions.

The three papers in this issue highlight some of the diversity of the projects,
facilities, and construction discipline. The first paper compares the options
available for multiphase pumping in both downhole and subsea environments.
The second paper gives more specific information about the design of electronics
in deep water. The final paper deals with a topic growing in importance as more
enhanced oil recovery projects are undertaken. It highlights the case description
type of paper that provides insights into the operation of these facilities.

I hope you will enjoy these papers and I look forward to bringing you many
more in the coming issues.

This paper (SPE 146784) was accepted for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Denver, 30 October–2 November 2011. Original manuscript received for review 13 July 2011. Paper peer approved 14 October 2011.

This paper (SPE 154399) was accepted for presentation at the Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, 2–5 May 2011, and revised for publication. Original manuscript received 1 July 2011. Revised manuscript received 22 August 2011. Paper peer approved 27 September 2011.

This paper (SPE 132615) was accepted for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Florence, Italy, 20–22 September 2010, and revised for publication. Original manuscript received for review 28 June 2010. Revised manuscript received for review 18 November 2010. Paper peer approved 24 January 2011.